nsg_senatefandomcom-20200213-history
Broadcasting Act
Author: Ainin TR | Urgency: High | Sponsors: Venaleria RG, Oneracon RG, Agritum TR, Unicario RG, Potenco RG, Valentir LD ---- The Senate of Aurentina, Noting the Aurentisë Televisënetwörk (ATN) is Aurentina's currently largest television network, Affirming the government's commitment to distribute information across Aurentina, Acknowledging the ATN Board of Executives is willing to accept the nationalization of the television network and its assets, Enacting the following sections: Section I - Second Amendment to the Ministry Foundation Act The clause "The Ministry of Telecommunications, charged with proliferating and regulating information technologies in the Aurentine Commonwealth" shall be added to the Ministry Foundation Act. All telecommuncation resources belonging to the Ministry of Research and Astronomy shall be diverted to the Ministry of Telecommunications. The following sectors are affirmed to be under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Telecommunications: *Television *Radio *Newspapers, magazines and other publications *The Internet Section II - Nationalization of the Aurentisë Televisënetwörk 51% of the awarded sum of money will be given to the Employees' Cooperative and the rest, to ATN Multimedia Holdings, Inc. The new ATN shall keep its broadcasting independence, and be headed by a self-appointed executive board, to be known as the ATN Board of Directors.Section III - Preventing Government Bias The Ombudsman shall be appointed by the Prime Minister on the advice of the Minister of Telecommunications. The Ombudsman may serve a maximum of 2 four-year terms and may not be dismissed during an active term, save by a court of law. The Ombudsman shall ensure the broadcasting independence of ATN and will have an absolute veto power in all government regulations placed on the network or its assets, save for budget increases or decreases. The Ombudsman shall audit, or engage a consultant to audit, the network's finances four times a year, and will report results to the Minister of Finance and the Treasury, who is mandated to announce the results to the Senate. All persons have the right to file a complaint with the ATN for violating their human rights, as defined by the Limiting Legislation Act, International Law Act and Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which shall promptly be investigated and corrected. All decisions of the Ombudsman of an official nature are legally binding and may be appealed to a court of law.Section IV - On ATN Programming The ATN One channel shall be renamed ATN Central, the ATN Two channel shall be renamed ATN Sports, the ATN Three channel shall be renamed ATN Aurentisë and ATN News Channel shall maintain its name. ATN must air 16 hours of domestic programming daily, on all channels and affiliate channels. ATN Sports must air over 20 hours of sports-related programming daily. ATN Aurentisë must air all of its content in the Aurentine language, or in English with Aurentine dub. ATN News Channel must air news programming, documentaries and other non-fiction programming all day. The Senatorial Channel shall be created and be put under jurisidiction of ATN, and feature live-streams from the Senate, and other government-related content. Other currently existing channels, such as the German-language ATN affiliate, shall not be dissolved and will remain as-is. ATN must caption all programmes for the hearing impaired and provide descriptive audio for all prerecorded programmes.Section V - Broadcasting Code of Ethics Shows showing excessive violence (to be determined by the Ministry of Education) or nudity are prohibited from airing from 6am to 9pm. Shows must carry a parental advisory icon, accorded by the Ministry of Education, 200x200 pixels in size, on the top-left corner every time after returning from a commercial break, or if there are none, every 15 minutes. The parental advisories are described below: *E: Show is family-friendly and educational. *G: Show is for general audiences, may contain occasional mild profanity. *PG: Parental guidance is recommended. *12+: May contain content questionable for younger viewers. *16+: Contains vulgar language and heavy violence, not suitable for young children. *18+: May contain excessive violence and nudity. No prerecorded show without a parental advisory may air in Aurentina. TV shows with a rating of 18+ of a pornographic nature (existing for the sole purpose of depicting explicit sex) may air only with a licence granted by the Minister of Telecommunications. All television and radio channels require a licence, to be accorded by the Ministry of Telecommunications. The Ministry may refuse or revoke licence if... *The service in question has systematically attempted to slander or spread hate speech. *The owning entity enters legal bankrupcy (ATN is exempt from this clause). *The service in question does not have at least 25% domestic programming (exceptions to this clause may be granted by the Minister).